Human history is written in the technology of fire. This is the first of three new courses to explore the intimate technological connections between fire and civilization. The following four subjects will be covered: (1) the evolution of earth’s atmosphere, in particular how it came to have the oxygen necessary for life and fire; (2) the story of the first practical use of fire by early humans and how that led to our remarkable evolution into Homo sapiens; (3) the efforts of 17th- and 18th-century scientists to first understand the basic chemistry of fire; (4) the history of the first fuel, wood and the historical development of the early technologies of ceramics, metallurgy and gunpowder, among others. The course will be profusely illustrated with art and photos and does not require any formal background in science.
